One Man's Worth
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: When a detctive is found dead in his home, Beckett and the others are sent in to investigate. They soon discover that it could be a serial killer, but when Detective Kevin Ryan goes missing, they discover that things are much worse than they thought.
1. Chapter 1

One Man's Worth

Chapter One

A man lay on his couch in front of his television on a stormy night in the middle of April, watching the end of the baseball game. The Yankees were playing the Red Socks and he was angry that the dang Yankees were winning. It has been a long week at work and Detective Murray was happy to finally have the time to relax for a change. On the floor next to him, lay several empty beer cans and a bag of chips that was almost empty. He was thinking about how much he was really beginning to hate his job. It consisted of long hours, a partner whom he didn't really get along with, and he had to deal with seeing a man who drove him crazy everyday, by the name of Richard Castle. He didn't understand how his boss and the lead detectives in his precinct could put up with this man's annoying and childish habits and yet, together they always managed to solve the cases that were assigned to them. He hated Castle and he hated that their chief of police did not recognize his hard work. He has been trying to get noticed so that he would be reassigned to work on Detective Beckett's team and away from his partner, who thought of him as arrogant and full of himself. Maybe he was, but he knew he was better then the others. The other two detectives already on Beckett's team were good, but they had become somewhat corrupted by Castle's influence and Murray believed that they were not as good as him. Beckett on the other hand was good and he knew that they would work great together. However, no matter what he did, his captain did not seem to notice and it infuriated him.

As he was about to drift off to sleep, a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. At first, he didn't want to answer it because he didn't want to get up. However, the knocking only grew louder. After the knocking lasted for several minutes, Detective Murray finally got off of his couch and walked over to his door to open it. When he did, he saw a man on the other side that was tall, but extremely thin, and his eyes were red and dilated. His hair was shaggy and messed up, he was unshaven, and his clothes looked like they were made to fit someone who was fatter. Murray could have sworn that he has seen this stranger somewhere before, but he shrugged those feelings off. He figured that he was just a homeless guy looking for something to eat or money. The man was carrying a duffle bag that looked pretty empty.

Detective Murray asked, "What on earth do you want? It is getting late, the Red Socks are loosing, and I am in no mood to talk to anyone until tomorrow. Now, go away!"

Just as Murray tried to slam the door in the stranger's face, he pulled out a gun with a silencer at the end, stuck his foot in the doorway, and slammed the door back open causing Murray to jump back.

"Whoa Buddy, take it easy," the detective said with a shaky voice! "Please, whatever you want, you can have it. Just take it and go. I won't say anything, please."

The stranger responded, "You don't recognize me do you? Does the name James Clayton ring a bell?"

The name immediately reminded Detective Murray where he seen this man before and he knew that he was in a lot of trouble. At that moment, the only thing that he knew might spare his life was if he gave the man some information that he would most likely want to hear.

As the stranger forced Murray to sit back down on his couch, the detective spoke up saying, "Listen, I am begging you to please let me go. I will give you whatever you want. Maybe even information on the man who betrayed your family and killed your brother. I know how angry with him you are. I can give him to you. Just please don't kill me."

"I'm afraid, that I already know exactly where Kevin is. My sister has been watching him for some time. We have friends in high places, so I have had people find out where each of you work and live, release my sister from prison by lightening her sentence, and helping me in a prison break. Kevin isn't the only one whom I want to see dead. I have wanted to take care of everyone who is responsible for my brother's death. You are one of the last. I have plans for Kevin but he will pay soon enough. It is your turn now."

About forty minutes later, the man left the house carrying the same duffle bag, but it was now full and he had made sure to turn off all of the lights in the house. He walked over to the car that was parked in Detective Murray's driveway and took out a set of keys from his pocket. He put a key in the ignition, started the car, and drove off with a smile on his face and blood on his clothes.


	2. Chapter 2

One Man's Worth

Chapter Two

The next morning…

Martha was sitting at the bar inside her kitchen waiting patiently for her granddaughter, Alexis, to come down from getting changed after playing a round of laser tag with her famous father, the great Rick Castle. Martha decided that she wanted to take Alexis out to the mall so that she could pick out a new dress for the prom which was coming up in a few weeks. Alexis had gotten invited by the newest kid in school, who was really sweet and cute. He was also very popular with pretty much everyone, including the head cheerleader and football captain. This allowed Alexis to grow popular too and she loved it.

Rick suddenly walked into the kitchen, still dressed in his laser tag gear. He aimed the gun toward her and pretended that his mother was an unwanted guest in his home, which didn't always seem far from the truth.

Rick spoke up first asking, "Mother, what are you doing here? I thought that you were planning to take Alexis dress shopping on Saturday. Don't you have a date with someone?"

"First of all dear, today is Saturday, which might explain why Alexis wasn't in school today," she explained. "Second, I do not have any dates lined up for right now. I am too busy studying my lines for the show. I don't need the distraction. What are you up to today besides trying to annoy me? Are you going to go visit Kate?"

Just as he was about to explain that there were no new cases, his phone rang, and seeing that it was Beckett, he looked at his mother with a surprised look on his face.

He answered the phone saying, "Castle speaking. Tell me we have a new case. I could so use one right now."

On the other end of the line, Beckett responded, "_Meet us at 121 Eastwood Street. Castle, a detective has been murdered. We're really going to need your help with this case. A lot of people are going to want answers._"

"I will be there right away," he said as he hung up with her. "Mom, I have to go. This is going to be a big case. Help Alexis find the right dress, but don't let it be too revealing. I don't want to give her new boyfriend any ideas."

Martha answered, "Richard, please. I know exactly what kind of dress to look for. She will be the belle of the ball."

"Goodbye, Mother," he said and he shouted up a quick goodbye to his daughter, then left.

About twenty minutes later, Castle had arrived at the address Beckett had given him and he began to walk down the pathway toward the house. He noticed that the house was pretty big and didn't see how a cop could afford this place on a cop's salary. As he entered the entry way and walked into the living room, he saw the body of Detective Murray, a man whom he saw almost everyday at the station, lying on the couch. He saw that he had three bullet wounds, one in his leg, one in his stomach, and one in his head, the last one obviously being the kill shot.

As he was taking a closer look, Detectives Ryan and Esposito walked up behind him and began filling him in on the case. He looked at them and then over at Beckett, who was talking with Lanie.

Esposito began first saying, "It takes a lot of guts for someone to kill a cop, but it looks like whoever did this wanted the man to suffer. No one cared much for Murray, but he definitely didn't deserve to die. Beckett has to go visit his parents after we are done here."

"I used to work with Murray while we were both in Narcotics, but I didn't really know him," Ryan said. "He thought that he was better than all of us and he was arrogant. No one liked him, but he was good at his job. We worked some pretty tough cases together. Esposito's right. He didn't deserve to be killed like this."

At this point, Beckett had joined them and said, "No, he didn't. I want to know more about his cases and Ryan, since you know him a bit better, I want you to run a background check on him. There are a number of reasons why someone may have wanted him dead. I want to know why. It may be how we find out who the killer is. Esposito, Castle and I are going to talk to his parents and I want you to talk to his partner. He hasn't arrived yet, which doesn't seem right. It shouldn't matter if the man is arrogant or not. You don't ignore your partner."

Just as Beckett was giving these orders, Castle noticed a message on the wall, written with what looked like blood. It said, "_One to go. I have saved the best for last_."

"That isn't creepy at all," Castle said.

Ryan responded, "No kidding. It is kind of a strange message to write, but it looks like whoever the killer is, is planning on killing again."

"According to Lanie, the blood is most likely Murray's. She said that she noticed some tares in the skin where he was shot in the stomach that looks like they could be from a hand reaching inside to get blood on his hands. We need to find whoever did this before he kills whoever he plans on killing next."

Both Ryan and Esposito headed off to do what they were asked and Beckett turned to talk to Castle.

She said, "So, Alexis told me that she was worried that you are going to try to scare her new boyfriend away. I take it that you don't approve of the guy."

"Everybody thinks that he is so cool," he said. "Even the nerds in the school seem to like him. He seems perfect, maybe a little too perfect. Does that seem weird to you?"

"I think that you are just overreacting like you always do when Alexis finds a new boyfriend," she answered. "I think that he sounds sweet and ...."

"You don't even know the kid," he cut in. "Alexis is only seventeen and he is eighteen. I don't know anything else. He could be a serial killer for all I know. Do you think that you could run a background check on him? His name is Sky Carson and he is a senior..."

Beckett cuts in, "Castle, get a grip. You know darn well that your daughter can take care of herself and besides, I highly doubt he will turn out to be a serial killer. I think she's safe and no, I will not run a background check on him. Now, we are going to go talk to Frank Murray's parents and I need you to be focused. Telling anyone's loved ones is always hard, but having to tell the loved ones of a cop is much worse. Lanie said that he died very slowly and in a lot of pain. I just want to lie and tell them that he died quickly."

"You will know exactly what to say when the time comes," Castle said comfortingly. "You always do."

What no one at the crime scene was aware of was that there was a hidden figure near the crime scene, taking pictures of Detective Ryan. At the moment he was talking on the phone outside the house. Then, he got into the passenger side of the car after Esposito got into the driver's seat and they drove off. She looked through the pictures she had taken while she was there and then put the camera back into the bag she had taken it out from.

As she got up to leave she whispered to herself, "It's almost time to make you pay for killing Mike. No one does what you did and gets away with it."


	3. Chapter 3

One Man's Worth

Chapter Three

Back at the station…

Beckett and Castle were in Captain Montgomery's office talking to him about what they know from the crime scene. They told him about the message on the wall written in Murray's blood and that whoever did this was planning on killing again. The entire station seemed on edge.

Esposito was out talking with Detective Johnson, Murray's partner. Ryan was sitting at his desk going through all of Murray's files, personal and work related. As he ran the background check on the man, he discovered that more of the cases from the first several years Murray was a detective had greatly detailed notes. However in the last few years, the notes had become shorter and much less detailed. Something about that didn't seem right about that to him. It was probably nothing, but he decided that he was going to try to dig a bit deeper to see if he could find any details about Murray's cases that he had purposely left out.

As Ryan got up from his desk to go talk about what he found with the captain, Beckett, and Castle, Esposito walked into the station and headed for their captain's office as well. Beckett and Castle had just finished explaining to Montgomery that Murray suffered until his killer decided to finish him off with a bullet to the head, according to Lanie's findings. Esposito started to explain the reasons that Murray's partner didn't show up at the crime scene.

He said, "Johnson told me that he and Murray had gotten into a pretty big disagreement about the case that they were working on yesterday afternoon and according to him, he said that Murray had put in a request to the captain about a partner change. Johnson said that he explained to him that he was going to quit and that he hated working so hard, for so little pay. That being a cop wasn't worth the aggravation. Johnson also told me that he knew it was stupid that he didn't show up at the crime scene, but he was too angry with the man and didn't figure that he would ever have anything to do with the department after yesterday."

"Murray never put in a formal request for a partner change, but he has made it known that he wanted to work on your team," Captain Montgomery said. "I never planned on clearing it though. The four of you work great together, but Murray seemed like he was more about the glory for himself and thought whatever he said goes. His pairing with Johnson was a one sided partnership. That kind of attitude does not fit with the top team in my precinct."

Castle responded, "I also got the impression that he hated my guts. I never understood why, but I think that he was intimidated by me."

"Yah, I'm sure that's why," Esposito added.

Everyone laughed at that, except Castle.

"What do you mean," Rick asked? "I am a very likable guy. Just look at my web site. People adore me."

Kate said, "The people that like you are fans of your books. They like you because you are a celebrity. One fan even said that she wanted your body. I personally think that your fans are just crazy."

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Very funny," Castle responded. "Just so you know, you guys would die without me. No pun intended."

"Focus guys," Montgomery put in. "Ryan, did you finish running a background check on Murray?"

Ryan answered, "Yah, I did. As you guys know, Murray wasn't exactly people friendly and when I worked with him in narcotics, he went through at least four different partners in three years. Then, he was transferred here to homicide about five years ago. Since then, he has been with three different partners. In his personal files, I found a few letters requesting to be put on Beckett's team before and after I came on about four years ago. Also, I found something strange about his notes on his cases he has had since he has been here. In the beginning, up until last year, his notes have been detailed and very specific. But lately, they have been short and they seem to be leaving a lot of details out. I don't know if it means anything, but it didn't seem right. It's probably nothing. Nothing from his files seems to explain why he is dead. At least not at first glance."

"Good work," Beckett said. "If your gut tells you that something is off about his notes, then keep digging."

Montgomery added, "Beckett's right. If any of you have gut feelings about anything, I want you to follow them. Someone is going to die again if we do not find him soon. Also, the press will be all over this because he was a cop. Despite his attitude, he deserves to have this case solved and his killer brought to justice, as soon as possible."

Everyone walked out of their captain's office and began to get back to work. They decided that they would go through each of Detective Murray's cases thoroughly, so that they could look into Ryan's theory. Hopefully, something would jump out at them that might give them a lead on whom or why someone would want to kill him.


	4. Chapter 4

One Man's Worth

Chapter Four

Meanwhile…

A woman walks into a dark, abandoned warehouse overlooking the ocean, just outside of Manhattan. She is about six feet tall, is skinny, has long dark, brown hair, a nose ring on the left side of her nose, and has high cheekbones, a trait which she shares with both of her brothers.

She puts her purse and camera bag, which she was carrying over her right shoulder, down on the couch which she had found cheap in a garage sale. There were a few other pieces of furniture and light fixtures that she had gathered together to put inside as well, such as a couple of beds.

She tends to spend more time here, than at her own apartment for two reasons. One, is because it allows her to feed her obsession of stalking those who are responsible for the death of her kid brother. In the center of the warehouse she has several bulletin boards which are covered in pictures of the men and women who were involved in the drug bust that resulted in her brother being gunned down like an animal.

Two, is because her older brother had just escaped from prison with the help of a cop and two of the prison guards and he uses this place as a refuge from the police who are searching for him.

Just as she was leaning down to pick up the pictures she had taken from that morning, someone had come up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. It didn't seem to startle her at all. She turned around to look into the face of her brother, James. They hugged and began to discuss their new plans.

"I was at the crime scene, taking more pictures this morning," the woman stated. "I took several pictures of Kevin while he was talking to some of the other cops on his team. They all seemed pretty upset about the death of Detective Murray. They are probably pretty determined to find us."

James Clayton responded, "I'm sure they are, but they haven't got a clue about who they are looking for and they aren't going to figure it out until they discover the connections between Murray's body and the bodies of the other cops whom I killed. By then, Jessica, we will have had our revenge on everyone, including Kevin Ryan. Once we are done, we can get out of the country and we will be free."

Jessica asked, "So when are we going to kill Kevin? As much as I enjoy stalking him, I am getting impatient and if we don't do it soon they are going to figure it out sooner than we expect. When they do discover the other dead cops, Ryan will figure out the connection and could go into hiding. We will never get our chance if that happens."

"Don't worry, Jessica," he answered. "Tonight we are going to make our move, but we are not going to kill him like the others. We are going to kidnap him. I want to see him suffer for betraying us and killing Mike. He came to us undercover and pretended to be our friend just to get us to reveal to him everything we knew about the drugs. You fell in love with him. Then, just when I finally trusted him with everything and made him my right hand man, he called in the cavalry. Mike was murdered that day by Kevin, our baby brother. I plan on torturing him for days."

"I am with you, James," she said. "I want to make him pay for Mike's sake and for mine. I loved him and he didn't love me in return. We were both in prison for years. I just don't want you to let your thirst for vengeance, get you caught or worse, killed. I can't lose you too. Promise me that you will not get sloppy."

"I promise you, Sis," James answered. "Kevin will die and we will be sitting comfortably on a beach somewhere down in Mexico by the end of the week."

Jessica took the pictures she had of Detective Ryan and pinned them to the bulletin boards, along with the rest of the pictures of him and the other cops who were responsible for killing Mike and sending her and her oldest brother to prison.

The rest of the afternoon, they ran a few errands in order to get the things that they would need to pull this off. James went to the hospital to steal a syringe and a drug in order to knock Ryan unconscious. He didn't want to take the risk of killing him right away by using a gun or another weapon. He knew first hand how well Kevin could defend himself and he also knew that they would have to take him when his guard was down. Once he finished at the hospital, he went to gather a few other supplies he was going to need to torture the man.

Jessica had run to meet up with an old drug contact of theirs downtown, so that she could buy heroin to use on Kevin in order to make him suffer the pain that she went through when she used the drugs years ago. She paid the man $5,000.00 for a large amount, thanked him, and walked back to her car. Finally, she made a call to the cop who helped her and James, asking if she could come and pick up the man's uniform and badge for James to wear in order to trick Kevin into where they were going to ambush him.

Tonight, Mike Clayton was going to be avenged and Detective Kevin Ryan would beg them to let him live before James would deliver the final blow. A smile crossed both James and Jessica's lips.


	5. Chapter 5

One Man's Worth

Chapter Five

Around one o'clock in the morning, Kevin finally arrived home at his apartment after working tirelessly all day trying to figure out why and who it was that could have possibly wanted Detective Murray dead. So far, no one was able to come up with anything except for a bunch of wild theories.

Castle suggested that maybe the man was a dirty cop, which could explain Kevin's gut feelings about something being wrong with the detective's shortened notes in his reports over the years. Maybe he was being paid to keep quiet about something he had discovered on one of his cases, although Esposito hadn't found any large sums of money in either of his checking or his savings accounts. As for the blood written message on the wall, maybe there were other people involved in criminal activities and he was one of the last people to be killed.

Esposito suggested that maybe he was killed by a prostitute for not paying her the money she may have been owed. Maybe he was lonely, so he looked for companionship that he couldn't afford. Maybe a prostitute was getting revenge on men who wronged her in her line of work. Ryan told him that he didn't find any sex sites among the history on his computer, but it didn't mean that he didn't go somewhere else to find the women.

Beckett told them to look for real clues and to stop coming up with ridiculous stories before Kevin had the chance to share another stupid idea. She scolded Castle by telling him that he was a bad influence on the rest of her team. The three of them just laugh and got back to work.

Ryan had walked over to his fridge to pull out a beer and then he picked up his phone to leave a message on his girlfriend, Jenny's, phone. He knew that she was asleep by now, but he wanted to let her know that he was home and say goodnight. She was out of town on a business trip and she wouldn't be back for another week.

As he was about to take some aspirin for a headache he had had since this afternoon, there was a knock at the door. When he opened it, he saw a cop standing there who was reaching into his front shirt pocket to show him his badge. Ryan couldn't really see the man's face because of the dark.

Ryan asked, "What can I help you with, Officer? It's after one in the morning and I have had a pretty long day."

"I am afraid that your sister, Tess was in a pretty bad accident about an hour ago," the man answered. "She was driving home from visiting the bar with her friends and a drunk driver hit her head on. I was sent here to come and escort you to the hospital if you would like."

Ryan stared at the man in front of him in shock, but he quickly snapped out of it and said, "That's all right. I can drive myself. I'm going to need my car later anyway. I need to call my Dad and other sisters in case they don't already know. Thank you for telling me."

As Ryan said thank you, he closed the door on the cop and quickly picked up his phone to call his father. His father hadn't been told yet and he told Kevin that he would call his other three sisters and meet him at the hospital as soon as he could get there. Then, he headed into his room to throw a change of clothes into a bag.

Disguised as a cop, James came out from the apartment building where Kevin Ryan lived and angrily banged his fists against the cop car that his sister had also barrowed from their cop friend who helped them out of prison. He was hoping that Ryan would come along with him in the car and he would take out the syringe once he had buckled in. In the car, Ryan would have had no room to defend himself. He would have been trapped. However, Kevin had turned down his offer to take him to the hospital. He tried to think of another idea and he knew that he was going to have to try to attack him in his apartment. Just as he thought that, he looked into the alleyway and noticed the fire escape that led to a window to the apartments.

He climbed up the escape and looked through the windows to find which one belonged to Ryan. He finally found the right one and watched as Ryan was on the phone, probably with someone in his family, and waited until he disappeared into the room. When he did, Clayton quickly and quietly opened the unlocked window by using a crow bar to jimmy under it and snuck inside to wait for his target to walk out into the living room.

Just as Ryan had come out of his room, a hand came over is mouth and someone tried to thrust a syringe into his neck. Luckily, he was strong and he elbowed the man in the ribs. When he turned to look at his attacker, Ryan noticed that it was the cop who had informed him about his sister's accident.

Before Kevin had a chance to ask what was going on, Clayton attacked him again and managed to throw him up against the island in his kitchen. Ryan fought back and they ended up trashing the place. Two of the chairs at his kitchen table were knocked over when Ryan threw Clayton into them and then hard into the end of the couch. Ryan threw several punches and had gained the upper hand. When the man didn't get up right away, Ryan stepped away and picked up his cell phone from off the floor. The man suddenly attacked again catching Ryan off guard and pushed him into the glass coffee table in his living room. He was hurting pretty bad and bleeding out from a piece of glass that had protruded his side. It wasn't too bad, but Ryan couldn't get back his strength in time, before the man stuck the syringe into his neck and poured whatever liquid was inside into his veins.

The man leaned close to his ear and whispered, "You will suffer for killing my brother."

Just as he was about to black out, Ryan looked into the face of the man he thought was a cop and saw a smile come over his lips.


	6. Chapter 6

One Man's Worth

Chapter Six

The next morning…

Castle arrived at the police station shortly after nine thirty, carrying a tray of coffees and a bag full of muffins, which his daughter had made the night before. As he did so, he saw that Beckett had fallen asleep at her desk and that she obviously hadn't gone home because she was wearing the same clothes as yesterday. He walked over to her, set down the coffees and muffins, and sat down in his usual chair next to her desk.

As Esposito and Captain Montgomery walked over, Castle picked up one of the coffees and waved it under Beckett's nose. She jumped and was startled to see everyone watching her and laughing.

"Very funny," she said. "There is something about this case that has been bothering me and I can't put my finger on it. After you all left last night, I continued to search through his reports and I figured out why Murray has been writing fewer notes. Castle was right about him stealing evidence from his cases that no one would miss unless they took a closer look. Murray wrote fewer notes to avoid getting caught."

"I knew it," Castle said with a grin.

Beckett glared at him and continued on, "Anyway, he wrote in one of his reports that on a murder case from last month, he and Johnson had found $175,000.00 on the killer, which the man had received in payment for a hit. I thought that that was an odd sum of money, so I decided to check Johnson's report on the same case to see if their numbers matched. According to his report, they had found an even $200,000.00. When I found that, I searched through the papers that were in his desk and found an eight digit number written down on the back of an old receipt."

"Let me guess," Esposito cut in. "It was a number for a bank account. I take it that that is where he deposited the missing twenty-five grand."

"You're exactly right," she said. "Along with a few other deposits that were slightly high for a cop's salary. I'm guessing that if we searched through every report from both Murray and Johnson thoroughly, we would find out exactly how much he stole and that he took other things from evidence that no one would miss. I'm sure that there have been plenty of items he could have taken and sold to make money."

Montgomery spoke up, "This still doesn't explain why someone would want to kill him."

Beckett responded, "I know it doesn't. That is why this case is bothering me. I know that there is something we are overlooking."

"What if his partner killed Murray," Castle asked.

"I doubt that Murray stealing evidence had anything to do with his death," Esposito said. "If Johnson discovered what he was up to, he would have turned him in, not kill him. Besides, whoever did kill him was out for blood when he shot him three times and used his blood to write a message on the wall for us to see. Stealing evidence is not a motive for that kind of brutality."

Montgomery said, "I agree with Esposito and…"

Castle cut in, "The bloody message on the wall, that's it! Has anyone looked into other cases with the same MO? Usually when you write a message like that, there are more. What if this is a serial killing?"

"Castle, you are a genius," Beckett said as she began to search the databanks on her computer. "I can't believe that we didn't see this before. This could take some time. Esposito, I want you to search with the FBI and the other government agencies. I will focus on other precincts."

Just as they were about to get back to work, a man in his late fifties walked in the room, along with four women who looked to be in their thirties. Each of them wore a very worried expression on their faces as they walked over to where Castle and the detectives were still standing.

Captain Montgomery was the first to speak up saying, "My name is Captain Roy Montgomery. These are Detectives Kate Beckett and Javier Esposito, and this is Richard Castle. Can we help you?"

The man responded, "My name is John Ryan and these are my daughters, Celeste, Tess, Jayne, and Rebecca. Kevin is my son and I was hoping that he had shown up for work this morning. I received an urgent call from him last night after one in the morning. He said that Tess had been in a serious car accident and was rushed to the hospital. I told him I would meet him there along with his sisters. When I got there, I learned that Tess was never admitted and I called her to make sure she was all right. She was fine. When Kevin never showed up at the hospital, I tried to call him several times, but he isn't answering his phone. We even stopped by his home and he didn't answer. We are very worried about him."

"Something is very wrong," Jayne said. "Kevin would never just disappear."

Castle spoke saying, "We should have noticed that Ryan wasn't here. We just got too caught up in the case."

"You're right," Esposito answered. "Ryan has to be in trouble. If he was scared that something happened to his sister, he would have been there right away. We need go over to his apartment."

Beckett spoke, "I agree. We'll head over to his apartment like Esposito said. Mr. Ryan, if you want, you and your daughters are welcome to wait here, but I suggest that you go home, or if you don't live here in the city, then find a hotel room close by. The department will take care of the costs and we will call you as soon as we learn anything. I promise you that we will do everything we can to find Kevin. He is a good friend to us."

"Thank you, Miss," answered Mr. Ryan.

Beckett, Esposito, and Castle picked up their gear, walked out of the station, and headed over to Ryan's apartment. Dread and fear for their partner replaced all thoughts of their current case.


	7. Chapter 7

One Man's Worth

Chapter Seven

As Beckett, Castle, and Captain Montgomery pulled up to where Ryan lived, Esposito and Lanie pulled up in a car behind them. Together, they all walked up to his apartment and tried knocking on the door.

As they did so, Ryan's neighbor walked out and asked, "Are you guys the cops?"

"Yah, we are," Beckett answered. "Was there a disturbance here last night?"

"A pretty big one," the man responded. "There was a lot of banging and crashing, like furniture was being broken. Shortly after the loud noise stopped, I saw a woman stop outside of the apartment, knock on the door, and a cop stepped out. He apologized for the disturbance and said that everything was fine. He just said that the guy made a disturbance at the bar down the street after getting drunk and he had followed him to arrest him. When he tried, the guy resisted arrest and tried to fight him. A few minutes later, the man and woman came out carrying my neighbor, who was unconscious. They told me they were taking him to the hospital. I don't know my neighbor very well because I am new here, but he didn't seem like the type of guy to do all that. I just didn't question them because the one was wearing a uniform."

"That's because he isn't that type of guy," Esposito said. "He's a detective and my partner."

As the neighbor began explaining to the detectives what he knew, they all stepped into Ryan's apartment and saw that it was completely trashed. The cushions on the couch and chairs were messed up and on the floor, the kitchen chairs were knocked over and a few of the legs were broken, but what disturbed them most was the broken coffee table in the middle of the living room. As Beckett and Castle leaned closer, she picked up a piece of glass which had blood smeared over it. They saw that several of the pieces did. They looked at each other sadly and then up at their captain.

He said, "Whoever the man and woman were, they were definitely not cops. They lied to Ryan's neighbor and kidnapped him. I want Ryan's neighbor to head back to the station with me to give a description to the sketch artist of our two kidnappers. Lanie, call in your team to go through the apartment and see if you can find anything that will help us learn who these two are. When the rest of you are finished here, head back to the station and begin to look through Kevin's files and reports. Find out who may have a grudge against him that's strong enough to do this. I will assign Murray's murder to another department. Finding Ryan is our top priority."

As Captain Montgomery and the neighbor left, Beckett, Castle, Esposito, and Lanie got to work searching the apartment, hoping they would find a clue. They found Ryan's cell phone broken underneath the broken glass that used to be a coffee table. Lanie's forensics team showed up and joined in on the investigation.

About twenty minutes into the search, Lanie walked over to Beckett, Castle, and Esposito, who was rubbing his hand over his head, looking very upset about Kevin's disappearance. Everyone knew that he and Javier were as close as brothers.

Lanie held up an evidence bag in front of her and said, "I found this underneath a cushion on the floor. It's a syringe with blood on the needle. My guess is that Ryan's attacker used this to knock him unconscious when Ryan wouldn't let up during their struggle. I will take it back with me to the lab to make sure it is his blood and find out what drug is in it. I'm sure it is probably just a sedative. I will also take the glass from the coffee table that has blood on it to find out who it belongs too. I will let you know."

"Thank you, Lanie," Beckett said as she turned to Esposito. "We will find him, Javier. Kevin is strong and we won't give up."

"Kate's right," Castle agreed. "The syringe was left behind. Kevin must have knocked it from his kidnapper's hand after he attacked him with it and the man couldn't find it. Chances are Lanie will find finger prints on it."

Esposito responded, "I hope your right. If only we all had stayed to help you on the case last night. This never would have happened. I should have had his back.

"First of all, you didn't know this was going to happen," Castle cut in. "Second, even if he had stayed at the station last night, then the kidnapper would have found another time to kidnap him instead. There is nothing you or Kate could have done."

"Maybe not," Javier said. "It still doesn't make me feel better."

Kate responded, "None of us will feel better until he is safe. Let's head back to the station to do as the Captain said. Maybe Ryan's reports will give us a lead to whoever this man and woman are."

It was about ten forty-five in the morning and they all knew that the twenty-four window for kidnap victims would come up for Ryan sooner than they wanted. It didn't give them a lot of time, but they were hopeful that this wasn't a normal kidnapping. The chances of him surviving if it were, was very slim.


	8. Chapter 8

One Man's Worth

Chapter Eight

Much later that evening…

Kevin woke slowly with a headache. Actually, his whole body ached. He tried to look around, but his head was too clouded and he suddenly remembered why. He had gotten into a fight with a man dressed up as a police officer. He remembered feeling a sharp prick in his neck and realized that the stranger must have injected him with a sedative of some kind.

He noticed that his hands were tied above his head and that his legs were tied to the bottom of the bed he was lying on, inside a large, dimly-lit room. Kevin struggled at the bindings, but the leather straps were strong and tight. The more he struggled, the more they dug into his wrists and ankles, causing them to bleed. He also saw that he was stripped down to his boxers.

The last thing he remembered before he fell unconscious earlier was the kidnapper leaning close to his ear and whispering something about making him pay for killing someone. He had no idea what the man was talking about. What was going on, he wondered.

As he was about to call out to someone, someone entered the room and walked over to the bed. As the stranger came into his sight, Kevin tried to focus on the face and as he did, he finally figured out who it was that had kidnapped him.

"You recognize me after all these years," the woman stated. "I was wondering if you were going to. My brother, James and I have been looking forward to this day for a long time."

Ryan replied, "Jessica, you're out of prison. How is that possible? I was never told that you had escaped."

She responded as she sat down on the edge of the bed, "Only James had to escape with the help from some cops in and out of the prison. I was released over a year ago. Time off with good behavior I think they call it."

"You were given a twenty-five year sentence because of your involvement with the deaths of my partner and two other cops," he answered. "How is it that you got out after four and a half years? Whoever helped James escape must have helped you out too, am I right? You have to have friends in pretty high places in order to have gotten released. My guess, a judge, a few cops. What do you want from me?"

As Kevin asked this, James walked in and said, "We want you to suffer for what you did to us. You betrayed us! I thought you were my friend and you turned out to be a cop. You brought in your squad and you killed off everyone else involved in my operation and then you put two bullets in our brother's chest. You murdered him and now I am going to make you wish that I killed you with two bullets too."

"Your brother just gunned down my partner and was about to do the same to another detective," Ryan responded. "I didn't want the bust to turn into a bloodbath, but it did. I am sorry that Mike died, but he left me no choice. I did what I had to do to stop you from going through with a major drug operation. Many more people, including kids would have died if I didn't do what I did. I am not sorry that I stopped you."

James walked over and slapped Kevin hard across the face. As he was about to do so again, Jessica stopped him and showed him another syringe she had pulled out from a dresser next to the bed.

"I want my turn to humiliate him before you hurt him too badly," Jessica said. "I promise that he will suffer, but I have been waiting for this for a long time. Please, you promised me that I could."

James grinned and said, "Of course, have fun. I will be back later this evening. I want to see if the detectives have found a connection to the other murders yet."

As he walked out of the room, Kevin asked, "What other murders is he talking about? How many people have you killed?"

"James has killed all of those who were responsible for Mike's death," she answered. "Not only the cops, but also a few of the locals who gave you information on us before you came into our lives. We knew all about the snitches in the neighborhood. James and our cop friends did some digging and learned where each one of you lived or worked. It wasn't easy. Some of the cops retired or moved to another department, like you. Others moved to another state. I followed all of you around with my camera and when James escaped, I told him where and when to go kill them. You are the very last one."

"Detective Murray," Ryan began to say. "James killed him two nights ago, didn't he? He was a part of the operation. I should have made the connection, but no one told me you were both out of prison. It never crossed my mind."

"That's right," she added. "Your partner and friends may make the connection eventually, but it will be too late to save you."

Ryan responded, "Maybe, but know that they will bring you and James back to prison, if you don't give them a reason to kill you. My friends are good. They will find you."

As she put her leg over Kevin's body she began whispering in his ear, "Not before I have the chance to do what I have dreamed of every night since we met."

Kevin could only turn his head away as she continued on, "I look different now, don't you think so? I am clean, so I am no longer sick, I grew out my hair and dyed it black, and I am wearing makeup. What do you think? Am I beautiful to you now?"

"I never loved you, but I did care about you," he answered. "I did everything I could to get you cleaned up for seven months. I stayed up with you when got sick and I brought you to the emergency room when you overdosed. James was too busy packaging and selling the drugs and heroin. I tried to help you then and I will do everything in my power to help you now. Just, please don't do this."

Jessica ignored him and put her lips on top of his and began to kiss him quite forcefully and passionately. Then, she leaned up and pulled off the robe that she had been wearing, which underneath she was naked. She picked up the syringe that she had shown her brother a few minutes before and injected it into Ryan's neck, once again emptying a liquid into his veins. She explained that what was inside was heroin and that she was going to make him see what it felt like to be high and sick from the drugs. She lay down on top of him to begin making love. He began to grow dizzy and lightheaded, but he did not pass out. Instead, he became defenseless and unable to fight her off of him. All he could do was try to shut his mind off as she violated him for the next several hours.


	9. Chapter 9

One Man's Worth

Chapter Nine

Meanwhile…

It was about two-fifteen the next morning and Esposito, Beckett, and Castle were still going through all of Detective Ryan's reports, hoping to find some kind of clue as to who it was that had kidnapped him. When they went through each of the cases that they had worked on together since Ryan came onto the team and found nothing out of the normal, Beckett said that they probably needed to look into Ryan's cases from when he worked in narcotics. So far for several hours they had found nothing.

"Everyone who has a grudge against Ryan is either still in prison or are dead," Esposito said angrily as he slammed the latest, read report down on his desk. "This is getting us nowhere. What if one of the ones in prison paid someone else to kidnap him? It would take way too long to question them all and Ryan doesn't have that time."

"If that was the case, they would have paid someone to kill Ryan, not kidnap him," Castle answered. "This is personal for whoever it is. They want to see him suffer face to face. I don't know whether or not I should be happy about that. It does give us a chance to save him instead of looking for his body."

Beckett responded, "I know what you mean. There has to be something that we are overlooking."

Just as Beckett said this, Detective Johnson walked into the station with a handful of case files. He made his way over to where they were all sitting and pulled up another chair.

"Johnson, what are you doing here so late," Beckett asked?

Johnson answered, "I talked with Captain Montgomery and I asked to be assigned to finding my partner's killer. It was the least I can do for him to make up for not being there for him earlier. We didn't get along, but it doesn't excuse what I did. Anyway, I looked into your idea of looking for cases with the same MOs. I found several right here in New York and a few in other states. They all were shot two times, causing them to slowly bleed to death before they were shot once in the head to end it. Also, there was a message written on the wall with their blood. Get this, some of them were cops, retired cops, and some of them were civilians. It couldn't be a coincidence, so I looked deeper into Murray's reports from now, back to when he was in narcotics and I found two major suspects that stand out to me. Earlier this evening I heard from a buddy of mine who works as a prison guard and he told me about a man who had escaped from prison over a week ago. His name was James Clayton and according to my friend, he and his sister who was a prisoner released over a year ago, had a major grudge against several cops for a major drug bust gone wrong that happened about four and a half years ago. Murray wasn't in narcotics anymore at the time, but he was asked to help out because he knew a lot of information on the Clayton's drug operations, thanks to a few of his snitches who are also dead, just like Murray. I have all of the reports about the bust and the Claytons."

"Good job, Johnson," Beckett said. "Do what you can to find Clayton and…"

"Wait a minute, I think Clayton's name came up in one of the reports I read awhile ago," Castle interrupted as he began digging through the piles of folders on the desks in front of him. "Right here. Ryan was a part of the operation too. According to his report, he went undercover to gather stronger information about James Clayton, his sister Jessica, and their brother Mike. Ryan was under for seven months and while he was, eventually he managed to become James' right hand man and he told Ryan everything about the drugs and his plans for a major drug shipment that would be sold to the highest bidders. As a way to show the buyers the product, they planned to give the drugs to the people who attended the raves and major parties that go on here in the city. Ryan explained to James and his brother that there was something wrong with the drugs they planned on using for this experiment and would be lethal to tons of people, including kids. Ryan said that neither one of them cared if kids died or not. They just looked forward to making the sale, which would make them rich and warned him not to say anything to the buyers. This was when Ryan called in his backup and the bust took place."

Beckett cut in, "The warehouse they all had holed up in was overtaken by cops and Clayton's men fired on them first. It was a bloodbath. Two cops were gunned down and killed by James and Ryan had to take out Mike Clayton as he shot his partner. According to the report, James swore that he would kill everyone involved with killing his brother, especially Ryan. Ryan's partner died on the way to the hospital, so James was locked up and sentenced to death for the death of three cops and major drug operations. His sister, Jessica, was involved with the drug operations, but she hid in the warehouse during the bust. She was sentenced twenty-five years for her involvement."

"This has to be our guy," Esposito said. "He escaped right before the first killing Detective Johnson found. Also, everyone in those files you brought with the same MO, were involved with the bust somehow. The message on Murray's wall says that there will be one more. He has to mean Ryan. After all, he killed his brother and he betrayed them. Clayton is ticked off and wants Ryan to pay."

Beckett said, "His sister must be involved in this too. Johnson said that she was released over a year ago and must be pretty angry with Ryan too. How on earth did she get released after four years for a twenty-five year sentence? There is no way unless she had help from someone pretty high up."

"Which would mean that James had inside help too in order to escape from prison," Castle responded. "What I want to know is why didn't anyone inform Ryan that this maniac had escaped or that his sister was released? I would think that this would have been important if people knew that the Clayton's had a grudge against him.

"Ryan would have asked to be informed if there were any new developments on his case," Esposito said. "Either someone messed up, or someone made sure that Ryan never got the messages. We have to find him."

"We will, but we need to get some sleep and start up again in the morning," Beckett responded as she picked up her jacket and purse. "We won't be of any help to him if we are too tired to figure anything out. Thank you for your help, Johnson. We wouldn't have gotten this far if it weren't for you. Let's go."

"See you in the morning then," Castle said as he picked up his jacket too. "Good night."

They all walked out together and went home to get some sleep before they would pick up again in just a few hours.


	10. Chapter 10

One Man's Worth

Chapter Ten

Ryan woke up from being unconscious, still feeling very ill. Both Jessica and her brother, James, had given him several doses of heroine and other drugs over the last three days. His body was shaking, not only from the drugs, but also from the beatings that he had received from James.

Once Jessica had finished fulfilling her sexual fantasy with him the first night, he had become sick and threw up. The first dose of heroine had overwhelmed him and he felt dirty for being violated and raped. However, James woke him about a half hour later, so that he could have his fun too. Ryan had found himself hanging by the leather straps from a hook in the ceiling and his feet were unbound, not even touching the floor. He was beaten with James' fists over and over and in between beatings, more and more drugs were injected in him.

Then, James became bored with just the beatings and decided to move up to burning Ryan's body with a fire poker. The first burn was on the right side of his neck and James held it there for a few seconds. The next burns came to his left, upper leg, several across his back, his right arm then his left, and his abdomen. The final burn came across his chest, which James had held the poker there for about half a minute. James became angry that Kevin was refusing to scream and he knew that he would have to inflict worse pain on him. He walked out of the room leaving Ryan alone once again.

Kevin had no idea how long it has been or what time of day it was anymore. His body was severely bruised and burned, and his head was swimming. He was still hanging from the hook and he could hardly move. Ryan was in a lot of pain, but despite the torture he has been forced to endure, he has refused to cry out, not wanting to give James and Jessica the satisfaction of his suffering. He allowed himself to rest as much as he could.

After awhile, James and Jessica both walked back into the room. Jessica seemed almost remorseful when she saw the condition that Kevin was in, but quickly shoved the feelings aside when she remembered that this was the man who refused to love her and murdered her brother. James walked over to a hook on the wall which held a whip, known as a cat-o'-nine-tail and took it down. It was a whip consisting of nine knotted cords fastened to a handle. This one also had bone fragments embedded in the knots. He walked back over to Ryan with it in his hands and cracked it, causing Ryan to flinch. He knew what was coming and deep down he was afraid of the pain that was coming.

Jessica walked out of the room after James hit Kevin, with the first lash across his back. The pain was unbearable, but Kevin still bit his tongue as James continued to whip him over and over. After several lashes, Ryan had lost track of time as he slowly began to drift off into unconsciousness. He didn't know how much more pain he could take and he prayed that Esposito, Beckett, and Castle would find him soon.

After about fifty lashes, James saw that Kevin was practically unconscious and he threw the whip down on the ground. He still hadn't heard him cry out and he was angry. He then noticed that Kevin was sweating hard and leaned down to put a hand on his forehead to check for a fever. He was burning up and knew that some of the burns had become infected and that soon, some of the lashes on his back would too. By letting them go untreated, Kevin would die. He didn't know if he wanted to put a bullet in his head like the others or if he should just let him suffer to death. James smiled and walked out after deciding to let him remain this way at least until tomorrow.

Jessica decided that she needed to leave the warehouse and went home to her apartment to get some sleep. She had been up for awhile, mainly because what her brother was doing to Kevin bothered her more than she thought that it would. Not that she didn't want him to suffer and die, but the images of his broken and bloody body wouldn't get out of her mind. She didn't want to watch it happen and wished that she never did.

The next morning, she woke up and discovered her brother in the kitchen making breakfast. He had gone through the fridge and had found eggs and vegetables, and decided to make a couple of omelets for them. Jessica was surprised to see him somewhere other than at the warehouse.

"What are you doing here," she asked him? "Are you done torturing him, already? I thought that you were having fun."

James responded, "I was for the first two days, but he won't cry out and I am getting bored. There is nothing left to do to him, except just to let him suffer from the infections. He is very sick and should be dead soon if I don't go back. He is suffering and that is all I wanted."

She asked, "Do you plan on leaving him to die, or do you plan on putting a bullet through his head like you did with everyone else?"

"I may put him out of his misery like I did everyone else, but I will at least wait until tomorrow," he answered. "Either way, I will leave his body to be found by his partner and friends."

James looked down on the kitchen table and saw several pictures of Ryan from over a year ago, shortly after she was released from prison.

"Why aren't these pictures with the rest of them at the warehouse," he asked?

She was about to answer when she looked out the window and suddenly saw a group of cops entering the apartment building. Jessica grabbed her brother's arm and they ran out of her apartment to the apartment next door. Her neighbor had just opened the door to take out some trash and they threatened their way in as James had taken out his gun and pointed it at the man. Jessica quickly closed the door and James shot him in the head. He was grateful he still had the silencer on the end, otherwise the cops would have heard the sound of the gunshot as the cops entered the hallway outside the door they were looking for. They knew that they would have wait quietly until the cops left the apartment building completely. They would be safe until then, knowing that the cops wouldn't break into every apartment to find someone they didn't think would actually be there.

James and his sister listened as a woman gave the order to brake down the door and the cops soon swarmed the apartment that once belonged to Jessica Clayton.


	11. Chapter 11

One Man's Worth

Chapter Eleven

Meanwhile…

"It has been three days and we are no closer to finding him," Esposito shouted as he was pacing back and forth at the precinct. "You would think that releasing their photos to the press, someone would have come forward by now with information. Someone has to have seen these two. They aren't invisible."

"I know how worried you are, Javier," Kate responded. "We all are, but we have to keep calm. We haven't found a body yet which means that Kevin is still alive. I am sure of it. Something will come up."

A few minutes later, Ryan's father, sisters, and Ryan's girlfriend, Jenny all walked in together. Jenny had come home from her business trip as soon as she received a call from Beckett telling her that Kevin was missing. They were hoping that the detectives had a lead or any new information for them. From the looks on everyone's faces, they knew before they even asked that there was none.

Ryan's father was the first to speak saying, "I know that it isn't a good idea, but I am going to offer an award for any viable information that will lead us to my son. If we wait any longer, he will be dead."

"Putting up an award is only going to cause more problems, Mr. Ryan," Captain Montgomery said as he walked out of his office. "Too many people will call in giving false tips and if someone does call with legitimate information, we will not know which one is real. We wouldn't have time to check on them all."

When Kate noticed that Jenny walked away from the others, she walked up to her and asked, "Are you all right, Jenny? I mean aside from Kevin missing, is everything ok?"

"I am just so worried about Kevin," she answered with tears falling from her eyes. "I know that you all want him back too and are doing everything that you can to find him. It's just that, the night before I left for my business trip, Kevin proposed to me. I told him that I needed some time to think about it. Even though he said I could have all the time I needed, I saw the hurt in his eyes. I should have said yes. I know now that I want to spend the rest of my life with him and that I love him so much, but I don't think that he knows I do. If we don't find him, he never will."

As Castle came up behind her, Kate said, "Believe me when I say that Ryan knows you love him. He wouldn't have asked you to marry him if he wasn't sure you would say yes."

Jenny thanked Beckett and walked back to the others as Castle said, "I guess Esposito and I are going to have a huge bachelor party to plan and their engagement party will be the event of the year."

"I appreciate you trying to lighten the mood, Rick," she responded. "I hope that we will the opportunity to do so. I am trying to be optimistic that he is still alive, but deep down I am afraid he may not be. Javier will never forgive himself if Kevin dies and Jenny and his family will be devastated. I will be too."

"So will I, but we have to try to be positive," Castle answered. "As you said, we have found a body yet. He is strong and you guys are the best detectives in New York City. We'll find him alive. I just know it."

Ryan's father, sisters, and Jenny were still talking with the captain and Esposito. Beckett and Castle rejoined the group as well. After Ryan's family left a few minutes later, the detectives sat back down at their desks and began to look through the reports again. They didn't think that they would find anything new, but it was all they could do.

Around ten o'clock, Detective Johnson came in shouting that he had found out about an apartment being rented by Jessica Clayton. As he said that, the four of them grabbed their gear and headed over to the building that he had learned about.

When they arrived there twenty minutes later, they all put on their vests, Castle with his vest that had _Writer_ written across the chest, pulled out their guns, and walked into the building. They stopped just outside the door and Beckett gave the order to break it down. As the four of them swarmed throughout the apartment, they saw that neither Jessica nor James were there. However, Esposito noticed that there were two half eaten omelets on the counter and the stovetop was still warm. They knew that their kidnappers were here, must have seen them coming into the building, and ran.

Esposito and Johnson left the apartment and went to go search around building, hoping that they might catch them. Beckett and Castle stayed behind and looked around thinking that there could be clues that would lead them to Ryan.

Castle was the first to see the pictures on the coffee table and said, "Whoa, these are all pictures of Ryan. Jessica's been stalking him and for awhile from the looks of it."

"You're right," Beckett responded as she picked up some of the pictures. "This picture was from over a year ago at your book release party, remember? She must have been stalking him since she was released. I swear I am going to kill those who are responsible for helping them both out of prison."

"I'm with you," Castle added. "We could be like Thelma and Louise. You would be Geena Davis. Although, that would make me Susan Sarandon and we would have to drive off a cliff. That wouldn't help Ryan. I think…"

Beckett just glared at him, getting him to shut up and start looking around again. Lanie and her team came in a few minutes later and began to do a more thorough search. After not finding anything that would help them find Ryan, they went back to the station, defeated and depressed.

Around eleven-thirty, they all headed home for the night to try to get sleep, but each of them ended up doing something besides sleeping. Beckett went to take a long bath, while looking through the Claytons' profiles. She was hoping that she would find something about their characters that would give her a clue on how to find them.

Esposito took a beer from his fridge and sat in front of his TV to watch the news. It only made him angrier when the anchors announced that there have been no new developments to report on the kidnapping of his partner. He turned the TV off and he decided to go out for a jog hoping that he could get some ideas.

Richard Castle came home to spend some time with his mother and daughter, Alexis, who he hasn't seen much of since this whole case started.

When Alexis noticed her father staring off into space she asked, "Dad, are you all right? I am so sorry about Ryan. I am sure he is going to be all right."

"Alexis is right, Richard," Martha cut in. "They are the best detectives in this state and you are extremely bright when it come to figuring out crimes. You will find him."

"That's what I keep trying to tell Esposito and Beckett, but the longer it takes us to find him, the less likely we will find him alive," Rick answered. "Something has to lead us to him. One way or another."


	12. Chapter 12

One Man's Worth

Chapter Twelve

The next afternoon…

A young man walked into the police station and looked around for someone who was in charge. He looked to most people like a punk because he wore his baseball cap sideways, had baggy pants that hung a bit loose around his waist, and he had an earring in his left ear. However, he was no longer the wild punk that he used to be, thanks to a detective who believed in him to be something more and helped him up when he hit rock bottom. Truth be told, he owed this detective his life and today he was going to try to repay the debt, if he was in time.

He walked over to a female detective who was starring at a white board with details about the missing detective's disappearance and asked, "Excuse me Ma'am, are you the detective in charge of Detective Ryan's kidnapping?"

Kate Beckett snapped out of her train of thought, looked at the young man in front of her, and answered, "Yes, I am. My name is Kate Beckett, this is Detective Ryan's partner, Esposito, and this is Richard Castle, a consultant. Can we help you?"

"My name is Josh and Kevin, or Detective Ryan is my friend," He said. "He saved my life and helped me out a lot when I needed him. When I saw on the news that he was kidnapped, I called all of my friends and we went to find out whatever information we could that would help you find him. This morning, one of us saw the man and woman who took him, leave a restaurant and get into a cab. My friend followed them down to an old warehouse by the waterfront. When he told me about it, I told him to watch the place to see if they left and to call me if they did. They are still there."

Beckett asked, "Are you absolutely sure that they are the suspects on the news?"

"I am positive," he said. "I wouldn't have come to you if I wasn't. I owe Kevin my life. This is my chance to repay that debt."

"We have to get there now," Esposito stated. "I'll call our backup and have them meet us outside the warehouse. Let's go! This may be our only chance to find him."

"Thank you so much, Josh," Beckett said as she picked up her badge and left the room behind Esposito.

Castle quickly stepped up behind Beckett as they all exited the station and headed toward the waterfront, where they were told that James and Jessica Clayton were holed up in an abandoned warehouse.

When they arrived, they found Josh's friend, who pointed to the right warehouse and told him to go back to the station to wait for them to come back. Beckett, Castle, Esposito, Johnson, and a number of other cops geared up outside, waiting for Beckett to give them the order to storm in.

Inside the warehouse…

James Clayton and his sister walked into the room where Kevin was still hanging and barely conscious. His fever was dangerously high, and both James and Jessica were surprised he was still alive. James wasn't sure what he wanted to do more; shoot him like the others, or watch him die from the fever.

"James, lets just leave him to die and get out of here," Jessica begged. "Lets get out of the country like you promised. The cops nearly found us once. Lets not press our luck, please."

He responded, "I want to see him dead, Jess. I guess I can shoot him. Then we can leave once I write the message on the wall like the others."

James took out his gun that was tucked behind his back, which no longer had the silencer attached to it. He checked to make sure that he had a bullet left inside and saw that there was only one. He aimed the gun at Kevin's abdomen and fired.

Outside…

Beckett was making sure everyone was ready and was about to tell Castle to stay behind her when suddenly there was a shot fired, coming from inside. Everyone charged in shouting freeze and entered the room where James Clayton had his hand inside a bullet wound in Ryan's stomach.

Clayton aimed the gun at Beckett and tried to fire, suddenly remembering that there were no bullets left. He was shot in the shoulder and taken down by Johnson and another cop. Jessica was overpowered by two other cops as she struggled to break free.

Esposito ran over to Kevin and the first thing he did was put his fingers to his neck to check for a pulse when he couldn't tell whether or not he was breathing. Thankfully, he felt one, but it was weak. Esposito could feel the heat that was radiating off of his partner.

With help from both Beckett and Castle, they managed to gently untie his wrists and lower him to the floor. Beckett shouted for someone to call for an ambulance, as Esposito put his hand over the wound to try to stop the blood from flowing out so fast. Castle just put his hands on Ryan's shoulders for comfort, letting him know that he was there. Ryan was barely breathing and very ill.

"Stay with us, Man," Esposito said as he struggled to keep Ryan awake. "You're going to be fine."

Beckett added, "Esposito's right. You just need to keep fighting. Help will be here any minute. Please hold on."

Castle just listened to everything going on around him and looked at the many wounds that the Clayton's had inflicted upon Ryan. Beckett saw Castle cringe and knew exactly what he was thinking. Esposito just remained focused on Ryan's face and keeping his hands over the gunshot wound.

The paramedics finally entered the warehouse and they heard a woman's voice shouting at them to come over quickly. Esposito, Beckett, and Castle all let go of Ryan as soon as the paramedics pushed them away from him.

They stood back and watched as they placed an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and bandages over the gunshot wound. Once they got him stabilized, they loaded him onto a stretcher and into the ambulance.

Esposito was going with Ryan in the ambulance, but before he got in, he walked over to where another paramedic is bandaging up James Clayton's shoulder. As they locked eyes, Esposito punched him in the face twice. Castle and Beckett had to pull him back.

He got into the ambulance, after which it sped to the closest hospital. Beckett and Castle drove there and met up with Esposito in the waiting room. Beckett took out her phone and called Captain Montgomery to tell him to bring Lanie, Ryan's Father and sisters, Jenny and Josh. Within the hour, everyone was there inside the waiting area, including Alexis and Martha, praying that Kevin was going to make it.

Six and a half hours later…

The doctor finally came out and began to explain Detective Ryan's condition saying, "First of all, Kevin is in critical condition and will be for at least the next seventy-two hours. He has various burns, deep lashes, and bruises all over his body, many of which have become infected. This is the reason why he has such a severe fever. His temperature has reached past critical. He has several fractured ribs and amazingly, none of them are broken. Also, we took a sample of his blood to have it tested and saw that he was injected with heroine, quite a bit. He is lucky that he didn't die from and overdose. As for the gunshot wound to his abdomen, the bullet nicked his intestines and the wound was deep. We were able to get the bullet out, but there were some complications and we almost lost him on the table. We had to resuscitate him twice, but we finally managed to stabilize him. I noticed that the bullet wound had some tearing, which probably cased the bullet to get lodged deeper than it had originally. I am afraid the wounds are deep and extensive and his chances are slim, but I promise we will do everything we can for him."

Kevin's father was the only one to speak up saying, "Thank you for everything doctor. I'd like you to keep us all informed of Kevin's condition."

The doctor nodded and left them alone again in the waiting room. By the next morning, everyone had finally gotten a turn to see Kevin and sit with him for a while. Only time would tell, if Kevin was going to recover or not.


	13. Chapter 13

One Man's Worth

Chapter Thirteen

Twelve Weeks Later…

A man stood in front of a mirror observing his appearance as he slowly got dressed. He had woken from a ten and a half week coma and he is just now seeing that he had several scars all over his back, chest, and various other parts of his body, but what scared him the most were the dark rings under his eyes from the lack of sleep. As a detective, he had seen a number of ways that a person can be killed or tortured, many of which were bizarre and gruesome. The scenes bothered him, but solving the crime and catching the bad guys always helped him to sleep at night. He never imagined becoming a victim himself.

Even though he was rescued several weeks ago, part of him felt like he was still there, caught in a never ending nightmare. Every time he closed his eyes he would dream of a man and woman laughing at him while he was hanging by his arms from a single hook in the middle of nowhere, not only suffering from pain, but humiliation too.

He remembered every detail; the whipping, the burns, the drugs, the beatings, and being raped. It made him ill remembering what that was like. When his family and friends would come by to visit him, he pretended like everything was just fine, but he knew that he wasn't and he didn't know how to talk about it.

As he continued to stare at his reflection, he didn't notice his partner, Esposito, standing in the doorway of his hospital room watching him. The detective walked over to his partner and slowly placed a hand on his shoulder, startling him. Ryan turned to see Esposito and he quickly finished buttoning up his shirt.

"I'm sorry," Ryan said. "You just surprised me, that's all. Aren't you early? I didn't expect you until six o'clock."

Esposito answered, "That's right, it's almost quarter after. I've been watching you for about ten minutes now and I know that it doesn't take that long to button up a shirt. I know that you've been having a hard time getting over what happened to you. I want to help and so do Beckett, Castle, and Jenny."

Ryan responded, "I didn't realize that I was that obvious. I know that I need to talk about it with someone. I'm just not sure how. I can't sleep and these scars will always be a reminder of the nightmare. I don't feel like I'm me anymore and I can't help but feel afraid and anxious, all the time. I feel like I'm worthless and I am no good to you guys."

"You will find yourself again, Kevin," Esposito answered. "Trust me. I am not only your partner, but your best friend. You're like a brother to me and believe me when I say that you are not worthless. You'll be back to your old self in no time. Both James and Jessica are back in prison waiting to be executed and you have us to watch your back. Now, what do you say, we get out of here and go grab a bite to eat?"

"Sure," Ryan answered. "Javier, I want to thank you for saving my life and being here for me now. I owe you a lot, Kate and Rick too."

"You owe us nothing," Beckett said as both she and Castle walked in the room carrying flowers and half a dozen of balloons. "You are our friend and it is our job to protect each other."

Ryan said, "Just the same, thank you all."

Castle added, "You would have been there for any of us. Now, did you guys say something about going to get food?"

"I think we should go for a steak," Esposito responded. "I am sure that you are sick of this hospital food. I know that I would be."

Kevin agreed saying, "A steak sounds great! It has been months since I've been out to eat. We usually just order in Chinese food and I am getting pretty tired of it."

"How are your family and Jenny," Kate asked? "Are you still planning on getting married?"

Ryan answered, "My dad and sisters are fine now that everything is getting back to normal. They went home a few days ago. As for Jenny, she is in Chicago right now, working on closing the deal that she was working on before this mess started. We are still getting married, but not until I am able to overcome everything that's happened. It's going to be awhile."

"When you do get married, Esposito and I are so throwing you the best bachelor party of the century," Castle said. "Even though Beckett is one of us, she is still not welcome to come. She wouldn't appreciate it."

"I will have you know that I am not even interested with going to a party planned by you, Castle," Beckett answered. "A bunch of drunken men and strippers is not something that I am worried about missing."

Castle retorted, "It won't be like that. Trust me, you will want to come."

The bickering back and forth continued just like it used to, the rest of the evening was spent in good company, and Detective Kevin Ryan knew that his life was worth living again thanks to his friends.

The End


	14. Thank You

Thank you to all of those who have written reviews for my stories! They are much appreciated. I am honored to have you all for fans and I hope to hear from you all again in the future, should you choose to read and enjoy more of my work. Best of wishes to you all!

Sincerely,

Genevieve Kelly


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